The Other Kinomoto Girl
by SapphireShelle91
Summary: The Magical world has grown dark and two sister stand at its core, one who helped the darkness while the other fights against it. Both connected to the darkness through the means of one Man, who loved one and disliked the other and broke both their hearts
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** Hi, Yeah I've started another story, sorry, but I am continue with my others.  
Ok this story just walked into my head one day when I saw a trailer for "The Other Boleyn Girl". I haven't actually seen the movie, but my Step Mum has and she thinks it's crap, because there are some many faults in the movie, so many things in are portrayed correctly, and my Step Mother being a Tudor fanatic for most of her life had some manage issues about the film and so won't let me watch it. Anyway, the idea got the wheels in my head turning and before i knew this idea was dancing in my head and won't go away, even when I was writing other stories which is very frustrating, so to shut this idea up, I've written the prologue (here) and chapter 1 and am now working on chapter 2.  
I'm not writing this for reviews or to annoy people who are waiting for updates, I'm writing this so it will shut up and let me update my other fics.  
This Prologue may confuse you, but I've explain what's going on in my Author's Note at the end of this.

**Disclaimer:** I Do Not Own Characters or Themes in this fic, they are belong to their respective creators'. Don't sue me.

I hope you all enjoy.

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**The Other Kinomoto Girl**

Prologue

How dare they!

HOW dare _They_!

How dare they promise her that her sister would be spared then to have them kill her only days after they made the promise!

How dare they promise that the revealment of another heir, illegitimate maybe, but a male heir none the less, her sister would be able to leave the clan estate with her life, then to kill her two day later.

She felt like picking up a sword and doing a few beheading herself.

It took all her self control and composer to not summon the Sword card and do just that. Even though she'd probably finally release years of bottled anger, she's end up in the same situation as her sister with a sword to her throat and like her sister, she had children to think of… children that had been fathered by _him_.

She scrunched up her face as his face appeared in front of her minds eye.

It was all his fault, yet he couldn't be blamed for any of it.

He had a been a puppet, more so than the two sisters if that was even possible but it was. He had suffered, she knew that.

That he, the true him, had been shut away in a dark place in the back of his mind with no way out while a power hungry tyrant ruled threw his body, destroying lives and families alike.

With a heavy heart, she turned to leave, vowing once again, that she'd never return to this place again.

She wouldn't have come at all if it hadn't been for her twin being in danger of losing her life.

Now she was no longer in danger. Her sister would have lost her life with or without her coming; she realised, but now that her sister was gone forever there was no more need to stay.

"Kinomoto girl." She heard the voice but continued on walking. She never wanted to see that bastard's face again.

"Give us our heir, Kinomoto!" he bellowed from the top front steps of the Elders Chambers.

"Go to Hell!" She snarled. His face distorted with rage.

"You promised." He bellowed.

"I promised no such thing! I said that there was a male heir alive and proved his existence so that you would spare my twin's life but since you didn't, you'll never see him." then she laughed. "Did you stupid fools really think that I would give you my son to twist and manipulate into the monster that you forced his father to become? Did you really think I would?" her voice rose to a scream and wind around her howl and hissed in agreement to her rage.

"Foolish girl." He growl, a sword appearing in his hand. She laughed at the sight of it.

"Baka, you think killing me will get you any closer to him? He is hidden so deeply away in the shadows and light that none of you will ever find him or his sister. So kill me, but you won't find them." She smiled at the hesitation on the Elder's worn old face and knew that she had won a small part of that day's battle.

"He is also my heir too, so if you do kill me, the cards with immediately transfer to him, so you won't gain power that way either." She added smugly, just to rub more salt deeper into the wound.

"I'll have you killed for the hell of it then." He snapped his rage almost unable to be restrained.

She stared at him calmly. She knew he meant what he said; he _had_ already killed her sister even though promising to spare her.

Her chest felt heavy and she felt so alone. She hadn't just lost her sister; she had lost her twin, her other half, her better half as she used to think.

How had things ended up like this?!

How did things get so warped and dark and terrible, where she was somehow the only one left standing?

She felt a tear roll down her cheek and almost completely ignored the Elder's bellowed orders for the man who had murdered her sister, to come to him. But she couldn't hate him either, the murderer; he was just doing as he was told, just another puppet to this power hungry family games.

How had they stolen everything that was precious to her? How? Her sister! Her true love! Her family! How could they steal them from her? How?

The murderer, the assassin stood in front of her, unsure of what he should do. He knew he was suppose to end this woman's life like he had done to her sister earlier that evening, but staring at this sister, the other Kinomoto sister, he found he could hardly lift his sword even a centimetre, let alone swing it with the powerful stroke he needed to clean her head from her slender neck.

"STOP!" the yell was so unexpected that time seemed to slow down as the three figures plus the small audience that had gathered to watch all turn as one in the direction of the cold, commanding voice had come.

He was pale and he didn't look well, were the first thing she noticed about him as he strode strongly towards her and her executioner, but he held his head high like the king that his clan had hoped him to be, but his eyes were sad, too sad for a man that young.

Their eyes met.

Autumn amber to spring green.

Autumn calm, not begging for forgiveness, which spring will not willing give him anyway, but she does hold his gaze which is all he can ask.

"Don't touch her." he told the executioner calmly. The poor man looked from his clan lord to his clan elder, desperate to know which to follow since neither of them up until recently had been better than the other.

"My Lord! What do you think you are doing?" the Elder bellowed.

"Doing what is right." The Lord snapped in return and turn his back on the fuming older man and held out his hand to the green eyed woman, who stared calmly back at him

"And what makes going with you, my Lord any better then being here with the Elder?" she asked him quietly, yet all heard her words.

"Nothing, probably," he replied, "but I swear I will not have you killed. I will not kill you!" She stared at him.

"My sister died on that promise."

"And that is with one of my two deepest regrets." He whispered softly, his amber eyes pained.

"What is your other deep regret, My Lord?" Her voice was mocking, yet there was a faint hint of hope deep within the mockery.

"Losing you."

She blinked up at him, still composed as if this statement meant nothing to her though inside her, her heart beat again for a moment.

It would be so easy to fall back in love with him. That was to say, if she had ever stopped loving him, which she hadn't.

She had continued to love him even though he and her twin had both effectively shattered her heart together, then stomped upon it just to make sure it was truly broken.

"Someone kill her already." The Elder scream broke threw their tiny moment in time and space.

Everything moved so fast, she was barely able to see it all coming.

Since no one appeared to be obeying his orders, the Elder took upon himself to rid himself completely of the last of the Kinomoto Twins.

He knew her too well, that if he threatened the man she loved, she would react.

And she did, just like he had known she would.

She felt the knife being thrown rather than saw it, her instincts to protect overruling the ones that told her to run like hell, to save herself and to leave this man to hell.

She ignored her brain telling her that she was once again being the puppet doing exactly as the puppeteer told her strings to do.

The pain that inflicted between her ribs as she pushed him out of the way of the star knife was beyond anything that she had ever felt before, even greater than the sympathy pain she had felt in her neck earlier that evening at her sister execution.

"NO!" she almost smiled at his voice. He sounded like he used to sound, before darkness crept into his voice, but she was sad that his tone was so sad.

She felt his strong arms move around as she fell, stopping her from hitting the hard stone ground.

"Please," he whispered, "please, I can't, I can't lose you again, not after finding you. Please not like this."

"Who am I?" she whispered, her vision darkening into a tunnel with his grieving face at its entrances.

"My one, true love." He whispered and he gently pressed his lips to hers.

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**Author's Note:** Confused? Ok, I'll explain and try not to give away too much of the plot.  
Ok, this Prologue is like the end of the story, if that makes sense. Basically, I'm telling you here how the story is going to end, so the next chapter, chapter 1, I'm going to take you back six an half years to build up the plot to this point... Does this make sense? So you know the ending but you don't know why or how this ending came to be.  
Also Sakura (it's obvious who the two main people in this Prologue are) has a Twin and its not who you may think it is.  
Thanks for reading and I hope I've kept you interested and that'll you come back for chapter 1.  
See you all soon.


	2. Chapter 1, Sisters

**Author's Note:** Hi! So here is chapter 1, which is set six years before the prologue took place.  
This chapter is mainly to start setting the scene and the relationships between characters, a certain three mainly and to introduce a new main character, Sakura's Twin... How many of you thought I was going to make Tomoyo-chan her twin? Well I didn't I invented a completely new character, who is almost Sakura's complete opposite in some things, how she reacts to boys is different to Sakura.

Anyway, I'll shut up and allow you to read and you can tell me what you think, whether or not I'm doing Clamps wonderful Characters justice and whether my new character can make it threw this story.  
Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

**Sisters**

_**Six Years Earlier**_

"Who am I? I am the younger twin sister of the Card Mistress Sakura, the master of fifty-three cards, cheerleading captain and girlfriend of soccer captain, Li Syaoran and that's not cliché in the least… and who am I? I am just the other Kinomoto girl." A raven haired girl sighed after her rather bouncy speech.

"You'll never be just 'the other Kinomoto girl', Arisa. You are the one who keeps my feet firmly on the ground with all this craziness." Arisa twin laughed, her golden brown hair shining in the bright summer light,

"Well, you're both my girls." Said a cheerful brunette boy walking behind the two laughing girls, his serous autumn eyes warmed by the two teasing squabbling.

"Aw! Cute" Arisa said laughing, "But, don't say that too loud Syaoran, your girlfriend may get jealous."

"Yeah and his girlfriend just so happens to be you Twin, so back off." Sakura said with mock threaten. Arisa let out a mock shriek before bursting out laughing again.

"Sounds like you three are having far too much fun for just walking to school." Eriol said.

"Four-eyes freak." Syaoran greeted him a curt nod.

"My cute little descendant." Eriol said cheerfully back.

"And it's too early for you two to have your mock wars!" Arisa wailed, though her green eyes glittered with anticipation.

"Then why are you teasing them into one?" Sakura laughed, Arisa shrugged grinning. The two girls laughed and took each other's hands and bounced off down the road, far ahead of the two boys who just rolled their eyes and smirked after the two girls.

"They are so close." Eriol mused.

"Yeah, I don't think anything could possibly break those two up." Tomoyo said, suddenly appearing at their sides with her newest video camera, zooming in on the two girls.

"Don't be so sure." Eriol mumbled unexpectedly. He frowned as did the other two, their frowns directed at him.

"What do you mean?" Syaoran asked quietly.

"I'm not sure, but there is a great unrest within the great magical families around the world. You should know that already since the Li clan is one of those families." Eriol looked at Syaoran, who sighed and nodded.

"They've called you back haven't they?" Eriol asked gently. Tomoyo turned off her camera to concentrate fully on the two boys. _Men_, she mentally corrected herself, _they are men. Not boys, men. They are eighteen, men now! We're all eighteen, adults! Adults about to walk into the adult world._ She felt a chill run down her spin at the thought.

"After graduation, I have to return." Syaoran told them, but he was frowning deeply.

"What else?" Eriol asked.

"My family has requested that I bring all of you along with me when I return."

"Why?" Tomoyo asked, surprised. Syaoran shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Well someone killed the good mood this morning." Sakura and Arisa head's were peering around the street corner of their school, waiting for their friends to catch up.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked softly, nudging her twin for her rudeness.

"I'll tell you later." Syaoran sighed, feeling Arisa's ever curious eyes focused upon him.

Sakura looked at him confused but let him keep his silence til later, a trait Syaoran wished had been possessed by both twins as he could already see Arisa burning curiosity to know exactly what was going on even though it really didn't concern her.

The group trudged into their high school, the joyous air that was about them long gone now.

"Are you ever going to tell me what's going on or are you going to keep me guessing?" Arisa hissed at Syaoran as they enter their Maths Classroom, or Making- Out classroom as Arisa called it for Syaoran and Sakura, when Sensei back was to the class did a lot of making out at the back of the classroom.

Sakura was slightly in front of the two and let out a little sigh at her younger twin's persistence and knew she was going to have to have another talk to her about pestering Syaoran, cause pestering was not the way to make him talk, it usually led to three weeks complete shut down of all emotions and vocal cords and a lot of glares too.

"I'm going to keep you guessing." Came Syaoran calm, cool reply that made Sakura breath a sigh of relief that he hadn't snapped at Arisa or just shut down completely. The news he had must be important… that idea made her feel a little ill.

Arisa let out a small grunt of disgust before stalking past her sister and flop into a chair in the middle of the classroom, close to the front.

"Wow, she is mad. She looks like she's actually going to pay attention today." Sakura whispered amused, to Syaoran. He chuckled quietly but his gloomy mood still hung thick around him.

"Syao-kun?" she whispered in concern.

"I'll tell you later, I swear." He kissed her lips softly, ignoring all the "aw's" in the classroom and gave both Eriol and Takashi the finger to stop them from making any comments that could insure a sound beating from him. Which he wouldn't have minded at all giving them one but he did want some friends when he left school.

It wasn't that he wasn't popular, he was, an a A+ Student and soccer captain and being rather good looking but these things made some guys his age not like him, so he had had to giveseveral of them serve beating to get them to leave him and Sakura alone. The one's who tried messing with his girl got the worst beatings of all.

"Look, I know your graduating in two weeks but can you still please save that for outside." their Maths sensei had arrived and was rolling his eyes at the affectionate display going on in his class.

The two grinned sheepishly before bolting to their seats at the back of the class, where they payed so much attention to their sensei…NOT!

"LI! KINOMOTO! Are they at it again? Someone get me a crowbar!"

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"Would it kill you two, to NOT have a make-out session in front of me just after I've broke up with my boyfriend, meaning I now have no one to snog myself!" Arisa complain loudly at break after having to suffer two hours of boring hangman and listening to her sensei occasionally yell at Sakura and Syaoran to knock it off.

"We weren't in front of you, we were behind you." Syaoran pointed out calmly, his arms draped around Sakura's form as they sat on top of a wooden table in Penguin Park, next to the Basketball court.

"Same diff. Just don't do it, well not until I have a boyfriend again, at least." Arisalooked around the respective boys around her on the basket ball court.

"Never stopped you from making-out with your boyfriends when I wasn't dating Syaoran." Sakura muttered.

"That's different; it's not my fault that you two didn't get your act together earlier." Arisa said still looking at the boys on the court intently.

"Go girl; go set yourself upon some poor unsuspecting soul." Syaoran waved his hand towards the court.

"Gee, thanks Syao, that makes me sound like some hormonally driven teenager!"

"But you are a hormonally driven teenager!" Sakura and Syaoran said as one.

"Yeah but you two don't need to point it out to me." she pouted before trotting her way over to the nearest cute guy.

"But it's fun." Syaoran whispered to Sakura and she giggled before sighing.

"So what's got you and Eriol so worked up?"

"Where are they by the way?" Syaoran asked looking around wildly for the Four-eyes freak and his almost as nutty girlfriend.

"At the bookstore, now, stop trying to change the subject, what's going on?" she demanded calmly.

"Traitors," Syaoran muttered under his breath before sighing and resigning himself to his inevitable fate.

"I got some news."

"Oh, that doesn't sound good." Sakura mumbled.

"It's not terrible but it's not that great." He finished lamely.

"Oh, now it sounds worse. And when something is worse with you, it usually means your family."

"Wow, you are good!" Syaorancompliment her, hoping to lighten the mood, which it didn't, so he sighed and gave in, deciding to be a man and bite the bullet. But he was saved for a little time as Sakura wasn't quite finished teasing him yet.

"Yes, I am when it comes to you theses days. You're very predictable with your mood swings." Sakura smirked.

"I am?" Syaoran asked, truly surprised. Sakura laughed, leaning into his chest; twisting her head so that she could kiss him on the lips.

"Yes, you are." She mumbled into his lips. She kissed him again soundly before pulling away from him.

"Hey." He started, protesting against her action.

"Please Syaoran, tell me what's happening with your family." Sakura begged. Syaoran sighed heavily.

"There's an uproar between the magical families of the world. Because of this uproar my family wishes for me to return as soon as possible. I bargain with them for after graduation for my return."

"Yes, I know," Syaoran looked at her startled. Sakura looked down into her lap, her face red but her eyes dark. "I've been having dreams again," she whispered, her hands twisting in her lap. "I've been dreaming about families fighting, wars breaking out between them. And Syaoran," she raised her head and stared straight into his eyes, "they're getting worse."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Syaoran demanded. She smiled sadly at him.

"Same as why didn't you tell me about this." She replied. He closed his eyes feeling the same wave of guilt that were projected from Sakura's eyes.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, curled up against him. He returned the gesture of affection by wrapping his arms around her in return.

"Yeah, I am too."

"When you go back, I'm coming too." She told him firmly.

"Thank you," he kissed the top of her head. "I was going to ask you to come with me actually."

"Yeah, I know, me along with the others, your family wants us to help them with this uproar. But how can we help?"

"I don't know. I don't even know what the uproar is about." Syaoran sighed.

"It's a power struggle between the families." Sakura muttered. Syaoran raised an eyebrow at her.

"Dreams?"

She smiled at him, her face was sad. He reached out and touched her face gently, wondering how bad these dreams had been affecting her and cursing himself for not noticing the emotional pain she had been in.

"I'm sorry." He apologized again. She shrugged.

"Don't be, my dreams are what make me, me. And," she smiled at him, "not all my foretelling dreams are bad." She smirked at him.

"Really?" he smirked in return, lowering his head to kiss her.

"Hey, you two, guess what." Sakura turned her head away from his, to the direction of her sister's yell. Syaoran let out a groan and dropped his head to her shoulder.

"What?" Sakura asked, though she had a strong feeling that she knew why her sister was so happy about from the cheeky, cocky grin on her pretty face.

"I got the guy." Arisa cheered.

"You got the guy." Sakura laughed.

"You got the guy so why did you come and interrupt us." Syaoran complained from where his head was hidden in Sakura's neck.

"Aw, poor Syaoran." Arisa crowed teasingly. "Not getting what he wants." Syaoran lifted his head from Sakura's neck.

"Arisa." Sakura snapped. Arisa sighed heavily, ignoring Syaoran's murderous glare.

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry." Arisa grumbled.

"Good, now go and bug you new boyfriend and stop bothering mine." Sakura growled. Arisa rolled her eyes before stalking off to several cute boys waiting for her by the basketball court.

"Ok, she got more than the guy, she got several of them." Sakura grumbled. Syaoran stroked her hair.

"I'm not jealous, just frustrated at her guy hopping." Sakura sighed, leaning once more into his firm shoulder.

"I know."

"And I wish she thought before she spoke, she's going to get herself into trouble if she doesn't learn to control that mouth of hers." Sakura shook her head, causing her light brown, high-lighted gold hair fall over her face. Syaoran gently brushed the hair away.

"We'll stop her before she does anything she really regrets, plus she's not stupid. A loud mouth: yes, stupid: no." Sakura laughed weakly.

"I hope so." She whispered. Syaoran touched her face gently but didn't question her, she'd tell him her troubles and doubts when she felt like it, he would just have to be patient.

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"Why does she always treat me like a child? I mean I know I'm the youngest but that's only by two minutes, there's nothing in it, but she still thinks she can boss me around." Arise grumbled as dragged her feet after Tomoyo and Eriol who she had just happen to bump into after her new "friends" left her to return to the indoor basketball court for night practise.

"Did you annoy Syaoran-kun again?" Tomoyo asked gently.

"I always annoy Syaoran and he me, we should all be used to it by now." Arise responded crankily.

"The only reason Syaoran-kun annoys you is because you started annoying him first." Eriol explained wisely.

"Why do you always take his-their side?" Arise demanded.

"We don't usually, we tease them just as much as you do, but about different things. You need to learn how tease and not taunt." Eriol said, Tomoyo nodding in her agreement with him.

"They still treat me like a kid." Arise complained, even though she knew she had already long lost this debate. She knew the moment that she had begun complaining to these two that her views would be turned against her put in a completely different light forcing her anger to give way to guilt of feeling angry at her twin and her twin's boyfriend.

"Have you given Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun reason _not_to treat you like a child?" Eriol asked, raising an eyebrow at her. She sighed heavily.

"Fine, I surrender! I am no match for your superior brain." Arisa did a mock bow to Eriol before linking arms with Tomoyo.

"So what did you do this time for you to get so mad at Sakura-chan's reaction?" Tomoyo asked.

"I just teased her and Syaoran and they took defences, like usual." Arisa shrugged.

"Uh-huh, your still jealous of them aren't you?" Eriol said from behind them.

"I am not." Arisa snapped her face outraged.

"You are too." Replied the other two calmly.

"Ok fine, I am, happy?"

"Not particularly." Eriol admitted, surprised himself. He often found this sort of thing amusing when they began and enjoyed watching how them as issues pan out, but in this case he wasn't, Sakura and Syaoran had enough people against their relationship, they didn't need Arisa getting jealous of them again.

"Look, I'm not jealous in the way you two probably think I am, I am happy for them to be together, I just…"

"You miss Sakura-chan because she spends so much time with Syaoran-kun." Tomoyo finished. Arisa sighed and nodded.

"And their relationship, I can't explain it, but I've never seen one quite like it." Arisa sighed again.

"We know." They agreed gently.

"Don't worry, Arisa-chan, someday you'll find your number one person too." Tomoyo gave her friend a comforting hug and in return Arisa smiled brightly back at her. It always amazed and amused both Tomoyo and Eriol how much the Kinomoto twins could looked alike, despite different hair colour, when they both smiled that bright, cheerful care-free smile.

"Hey!" the three looked back down the street they had come and saw Sakura and Syaoran walking towards them, waving.

"Hey!" Arisa waved happily back before speeding back down the street to their side, cheerfully linking arms with her twin and the two bounced to where Eriol and Tomoyo stood in front of a café with an amused Syaoran following closely behind them.

"Two weeks to Graduation! Celebration time!" Arisa squealed before pulling her laughing sister into the café.

"Why don't we celebrate after we graduate?" Syaoran asked Eriol and Tomoyo, both of whom just grinned and shrugged before all three followed the bouncing girls into the café.

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**Author's Note:** So what do you think?  
How does Arisa do being Sakura'stwin? I didn't want them to be completely alike I wanted some difference between them, like hair colour and some traits in personality, but I do want so similarities too, such as eye colour, smile and somethings similar between them to identify them as twins.  
I've also hope I portrayed Sakura and Syaoran's relationship well, I've always wanted to write about them being together and this gave that chance and I hope I did them justice.  
Thanks for reading and hopefully I'll have chapter 2 up very soon.  
Thank you for the reviews that I have already received for this, I appreciated them a lot.

**P.S.** I also made a small reference, using a quote (but changing the names) from one of my favourite series. Anyone who has read **_"Tomorrow, When the War Began"_** by John Marsden, will get it. It's a good book, worth reading as is the series.


	3. Chapter 2, Shadows

**Author's Note:** Hey, Chapter 2. It's long, with humour and some well dark stuff, but you'll see.  
Ok, this is my first fic that I'm actually planning to make dark and depressing and I'm trying to build it up to that and I'm not a hundred percent sure whether or not I'm going to do a good job at this, but I'm trying my best with this.

**

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Chapter 2**

**Shadow**

'_**When will the boy be here?'**_

"Three more weeks, My Lord."

The chamber was dark, except for the eerie green glow projected from a black glass mirror that lay upon a desk where a man in his late fifty's sat, staring into the mirror transfixed.

'_**Good, Good. I want the boy.'**_ Hissed a voice from within the depths of the black mirror.

"He will serve you well. He is strong, both in body and mind, his magic is unchallenged."

'_**His magic is unchallenged because no one has challenged him.'**_ The voice replied. _**'But he will do'**_

"When the Cards become ours, no one will dare to challenge us." Said the man gleefully.

'_**Yes, Elder, but the Cards at this moment belong to the Card Mistress and for this moment they will continue to do so.'**_

"Yes, My Lord, but why, if I may be so bold to ask?" the Elder asked curious.

'_**Because I wish to see her at the top of her game. I want to be sure that I have chosen the right girl to be my Queen.'**_

"You want the Kinomoto girl to be your Queen, My Lord?" the Elder asked startled.

'_**For the moment, yes, I have my eye on her as does your young Chosen One.'**_

"Yes, we know." Growled the Elder, bad temperedly.

'_**I would have thought you Li's would have jumped at the chance to secure another power in mongst you. For your young heir to marry her and have a child with her, the Cards would be secured in your family forever.'**_

The Elder grunted. The voice within the mirror chuckled.

'_**Ah, I see, your family is still sore from having you most promising heir lose**__** them to a nobody of a small town.'**_ The voices chuckle grew louder, until it was thunderous.

'_**When this little nobody comes to your clan, I will see whether or not she was worthy to win the Cards instead of the boy.'**_

"Thank you, My Lord." My Elder muttered and got up slowly from his chair.

'_**We will speak again when the boy and the Card mistress have arrived.'**_

"Yes, My Lord." The eerie green glow faded then disappeared. The Elder gave an involuntary shudder.

"Soon, Soon." He whispered and left the hidden chamber. He was so deep in his thought as he crossed the Main Court yard of the Elder's Chambers that he payed no heed that his muttering might be caught by a unimportant member of his Clan.

"Soon the Shadow will come." Li Meilin whispered as she watched one of her least favourite uncles leave the Elder's Courtyard. She looked down at the ancient scrolls in her arms that she was taking back to the Scroll Master for another Elder, who happened to be her grandfather.

"Shadow, Shadow." She whispered as she walked into the Scroll Master's house.

"Thanks." She muttered as she handed the scrolls back to their Master who in return gave her a firm nod of acknowledgement before returning to his reading of a particularly old scroll.

Meilin stared at the title of it and frowned.

"'_The Legend of Shadows'_?" Meilin read upside down.

"Hmm, oh yes, an interesting legend this is. But a legend none the less." The old Scroll Master smiled.

"Just a legend? Then why is it from the achieve shelf?" Meilin asked nodding at the shelf with an empty space on the top shelf. The Scroll Master looked behind him at the shelf before laughing.

"Very observant, Young One. Yes this is from the achieve shelves, but not for the reason that you are thinking. _'The Legend of Shadows'_ is kept on these shelves as warning of darker times and times we must not repeat."

"Why?"

The old Scroll Master smiled at her.

"It is a long and complicated legend, one that I wouldn't mind telling you another day for I am rather busy at the present moment. Come back in three or so days and I will see if I can explain the legend for you."

"Um, thanks." Meilin replied unsure what she had just signed herself into.

"You're welcome Dear, see you again soon."

Meilin walked out of the main section of her Clan's estates, deep in thought.

She couldn't figure out why she cared about _'The Legend of Shadows'_. Normally she wasn't interested in the legends or history about and surrounding her Clan. Since she wasn't considered an important member of her Clan and was told so often, she had all but given up on it, how she wished she could be in Japan with her cousin and friends.

But her uncle had be muttering something about shadows, that the Shadow was coming or something like that… or had she miss heard him, she hadn't really been listening, but… no she was sure she had him heard him mutter 'Soon the Shadow will come', but what did that mean?

She rubbed her face frustrated.

She would call Syaoran and Sakura, see if they knew anything, or maybe she was just over-reacting and she would just have everyone laughing at her, not that Syaoran and Sakura would do that but if Arisa was there… she would never hear the end of it.

But still, she hadn't talked to Syaoran in awhile, so maybe she could… she would just call him when she found out more about the legend, it was probably nothing, but if it was nothing then why was the hair at the back of her neck on ends and why did she now have butterflies in her stomach.

"Meilin, did you return the scrolls to Master Jin?" Meilin nodded to her mother as she entered her house.

"Meilin?" her mother looked at her in concern.

"Mei, were your cousins being cruel to you again?" her mother asked her gently.

"No, no, I've just… I've just got a headache." Meilin smiled weakly at her mother be trudging pass her and upstairs of their house to her room.

She flopped heavily on to her bed and curled up there. She was over-reacting, she had no reason to be over-reacting, so her least favourite uncle had muttered something weird, these were weird and dangerous times and so her Grandfather's best friend just so happen to be looking at a scroll that was about a legend on Shadows, whatever they were.

She placed an arm over her eyes, it was silly, all of it, if she had heard any of her other uncles mutter something like that she wouldn't have thought a thing of it.

It was all silly, all of it and if anyone in her clan found out what she was thinking…

It was stupid, but so many weird things had been happening in the Clan lately.

Her mobile on her bedside table suddenly vibrated.

"Hello?" she answered blankly.

'_Hey Meilin.'_

She sat up bolt right.

"Syaoran!"

'_Hey, why are you so surprised?'_

"I just am. It is so good to hear from you."

'_O-K… what's up?'_

"I was just about to ask you the same thing."

'_Fine, I was just calling to see if anything was going on in the Clan.'_

"A lots been going on in the Clan. Something is always going on in this family, you know that." She laughed weakly.

'_Mei, what's up? You sound nervous…'_

"I don't know, just things are getting so weird here, I guess I'm on the edge. Actually everyone is on the edge, come to think of it."

'_With the uproar with the other families?'_

"Yeah. Everyone is really uptight and edgy about the whole thing. People are just acting weird and you know, how our family gets when we feel threaten."

'_Yeah,'_ he agreed sounding thoughtful, '_Whose been acting weird?'_

"Just everybody." She said quickly, trying to stop her tongue from running away with her.

'_Such as?'_

"Uncle Tu." Meilin whispered. She heard Syaoran sigh heavily on the other end of the line.

'_What's he doing this time?'_

"I'm not sure, but he's been acting the weirdest of all the Clan Elders." Meilin sighed.

'_Of course he has been, he _is_ the weirdest out of all the Elders.'_

"Syaoran!" Meilin shrieked down the phone line at him. Despite her horror at Syaoran blunted disrespect towards an Elder of their clan she couldn't help but giggle.

'_Made you laugh I'm off the hook.'_ Her giggles grew louder and for a few moments she was unsure whether or not she would be able to stop. Syaoran was so different theses days, happier with a light teasing manner about him that had been rarely seen when they had all be younger.

_Sakura really is good for him_, Meilin thought almost sadly, calming her giggles down, so that she was now barely aware that she been laughing except for the slight aches in her sides.

'_Don't worry too much, Mei. I'll be there soon, as will the others.'_ Syaoran told her gently. Meilin felt her heart leapt and she could feel the first true smile that she had smiled in months grace her lips.

"I can't wait to see all of you." She admitted sincerely.

'_Yeah, Yeah, I miss you too. Sakura, Tomoyo and Arisa have all been bugging me to know when they'll get to see you again.'_

Meilin laughed at the image that came to mind as he spoke, she could just see them, especially the Kinomoto Twins bugging Syaoran for information.

"They haven't driven you insane yet?" she teased him.

'_No, but their getting there, with Sakura being accident prone and a danger magnet__ and Tomoyo-chan sticking a camera in our faces every other second and Arisa…'_ he trailed off grumbling.

"Honestly the way you two fight," Meilin sighed, "your both to blame, you do realise right."

'_Yeah, yeah, I know.'_

"Why do you two fight so much now? You two weren't this bad in elementary school, granted Risie was in a different class when we first came in grade four, but apart from that you two didn't fight nearly 0as bad as this. What happen?"

'_I started dating Sakura.'_ He replied simply.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Meilin asked genially confused. Syaoran sighed heavily.

'_No sibling of Sakura likes me for dating her.'_

"_Really!_"

'_You never notice how hostile Sakura's brother is to me?'_

"I just thought he was hostile to everyone, except Yukito-san."

'_Yeah, well, he's particularly unpleasant to me.'_ Syaoran grumbled. She could hear him muttering something incoherent on his end of the phone but she guessed that they were rude, so she didn't ask him to repeat them.

"Might have had something do with how you introduced yourself to Sakura-chan." Meilin teased cheekily.

'_Am I never going to be able to live that down?'_ Syaoran demanded.

"Nope."

'_Girls are evil!'_

"And you should know; you always seem to be surrounded by them, no matter where you go." She laughed.

'_Argh, don't remind me. Anyway, don't worry; we'll all be there soon and we'll try and help sort things out. I mean, the other families won't be too willing to go up against the half the recantation of Clow Reed and the CardMistress if it comes down to a fight. Plus as soon as they see Tomoyo and her dreaded camera and find out that they are staring in her newest film, they'll be running for the hills.'_

Meilin laughed again, feeling amusement and hope from his words.

It was true what he had said. Who in their right minds, even if they were powerful families, be mad enough to go up against such strong and powerful forces as Sakura and Eriol, not that those two would actually use their magic to fight, no, they would reason with the families and all would be right in the world again. The magical one at least, the rest of the world… well it had bad enough stuff going on in it without the help of magic.

"I can't wait to see you." she sighed, before she started informing him about all the other happenings in the clan and he told her about how life was going in Japan with the gang.

Both blissfully unaware of the murder that was taking place in their clan's estate at that very moment.

* * *

Master Li Jin had been the Master of the Scrolls for almost thirty-two years and was still honoured by his position as he had been the day he had been entitled to it.

He loved filling young minds up with questions about history, in particular their history, the magnificent history of the Li Clan and to then help them find the answers to all the questions that their bright, young minds sorted.

He grinned happily, as he placed _'The Legend of Shadows'_ back in its respective place on the top shelf above his desk.

He was eager to get it back down again, happy that another young one had shown interest in the history of The Li Clan.

Though he was admittedly a truffled baffled as to why Li Meilin, one he knew had never been particularly fond of history; her family history in particular and was now interested in one of the Li Clan's oldest legends, so old that it was considered now nothing more than an old wives tale to scare small children. But even this tale wasn't even used for that, no, it wasn't even told anymore.

Looking up at the scroll, thoughtful, Master Jin wondered if that were actually wise, to keep one the families oldest legends hidden and forbidden to be told to the generations. And why was that, he suddenly wondered.

He reached up and took down the old scroll again and opened it once more.

The legend was terrible, much death and sadness and no happy ending to it, only that the power had run out in the end and all of that particular part of the family had died.

He stroked the old words that were so filled with sadness that it made it even harder to believe that the legend wasn't real. At least parts of it had to be, to get this much strong and powerful emotion into such words.

The candle on his desk flicked when a sudden gush of wind blew threw his open window. He closed the window quietly and which on a light switch before returning to his desk, staring at the scroll for something hidden. A hidden reason as to why the legend was almost formally forbidden to be told.

"When one with great power, they will strike and then the darkness will come, with death following swiftly." He read out. These words were the last on the scroll, they were written with anger more than sadness. The brush strokes had been harsh and forceful, as of the hand holding the brush was trying to hold back their almost un-containable rage.

"How odd!" He mumbled. He was surprised and a little disappointed with himself for not notices these little details. He called himself the Master of Scrolls but he had missed this little detail! For shame of him.

"But what does it mean, 'When one with great power, they will strike and then the darkness will come, with death following swiftly'." He grumbled to himself.

"This is just a silly legend, but with so much power and emotion in it." He rubbed his old and weary eyes, his old but still clever mind turning over the information in his head.

He reread the legend once more, filling more unnerved by it, as his mind finally started to click several similarities between what had happen in the legend and what was happening in his family and other powerful, magical families around the globe.

His poor heart pounded against his chest.

An uproar had started among the Great Magical Families around the world, but no one knew how or even why it had really begun, but it grew to a full out war in almost no time at all.

As he read the final clue jumped out at him and he felt his heart would stop.

"When one with great power, they will strike and then the darkness will come, with death following swiftly" he gasped with understanding, terror filling his being.

"I must, I must." He gasped, moving for the door.

'_**You Must DIE!'**_ a deep quiet voice replied softly, a shadowy figure stood in the door way, but the voice had not come from him but from the dark glass mirror he was holding.

"You… How could you?" Master Jin whispered.

"I do what must be done." The figure replied calmly. Master Jin shook his head.

"It will destroy us all." Master Jin pleaded.

"No, he won't." Master Jin frowned.

"He?" then his eyes grew wider with realization and horror.

"It will kill him." Master Jin yelled in horror.

"He is strong; he will last long enough until another stronger heir is born." The figure shrugged.

"Please don't do this." Master Jin begged.

"Sorry, Jin, but we will lose if we don't do this."

"I'd rather lose then to succumb to the control of that thing." Jin snapped.

"I thought you might feel that way." The man held up the mirror higher in front of him and things inside the Records Chamber began to burn.

"No." Jin cried out in horror and despair. He swung around to confront the man, who he once counted as a dear friend and the evil, manipulative mirror, but found both gone and the only door out of the chamber barred. The windows were to small for a child fit threw, let alone a full grown man.

Sighing deeply, trying to control his horror and fear, trying to accept his fated death in the room he loved more than his own life itself, he set about doing what he had be taught to do if some terrible deed like this was committed.

Though the room was completely filled with scrolls and wood, the fire did not spread quickly, the charms around the room slowing it down, which for Master Jin this was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing for it gave him time to seal the Clan's most important scrolls in a hiding place in the hopes that someone may find them before it was all too late. And a curse, for he was about to die a very slow and excruciating death.

"I've have done my duty, I accept my death proudly."

It wasn't much late, that members of his clan were running to his house, yelling to each and to him, fighting the fire with hoses and with water and fire wards. But the fire was too hot and by the time it was under control and being put out, the old scroll house was in ruins and all that was left of Master Jin was a burnt corpse.

"Oh my god." Meilin whispered the next morning as she stared at the ruin. She was sick to her gut. How could this happen? How did this happen?

"It was caused by magic." A member of the crowd gathered around the ruin suddenly yelled.

"One of the other families must have done this." Another voice agreed.

"Yeah." Yelled another voice in agreement to the first two. Meilin frown, she didn't recognize those young men's voices.

"But why?" Li Yelan called calmly from the far side of the courtyard. Meilin let out a deep sigh of relief. If Yelan, Syaoran's mother, was here everything would be alright.

"Yes why." Other member's of the clan yelled.

"Because they want our power." The first voice argued obviously irritated but Lady Yelan appearances.

"So they burn down our Scroll House?" Yelan asked sceptically.

She was quite sad and disturbed about the scroll house and its Master's demised, but she would not allow their deaths be the caused of the already threatening to explode, war.

"So we can not finds way to defeat them, they destroyed our history."

"We have no proof that it was actually one of the families." Yelan argued.

"Then who else would have done this? Are you accusing one of your own of doing such a terrible crime, of committing murder, Lady Yelan?" the first voice jeered at Yelan.

Meilin bit her lip hard as she looked at her aunt, hoping, hoping that she'd find something to fight back with.

Yelan sighed heavily.

"I do not belief one of us could be capable of causing Master Jin's death and the burning of the Scroll House, but I do wish for you not to jump so quickly to such conclusions before we have more proof that it was one of the families. Also which one could have or would have committed this crime? We do not know!"

People in the crowd her, nodded their heads, agreeing with her aunts words much to Meilin's great relief, but she could also see that many did not agree with Yelan's calm words, frowning and muttering among themselves, before quietly leaving the crowd.

Once the crowd had calm down somewhat, Meilin went over to her aunt's side. Her aunt smiled at her tiredly.

"These are hard times, Meilin." Yelan sighed heavily as they walked slowly in the direction of her house.

"Yes, but why are so many of us jumping the gun to create a war? Who wants to fight in a magical war anyway?" Meilin shuddered as stories of long ago wars that were built on magic came to her mind.

"Like with the other great wars, people want to go for the glory that war is so told to bring and also the desire to protect ones family and country." Yelan explained gently.

"I don't like it." Meilin mumbled.

"Neither do I and I fear that this is just the beginning. You heard the out cry in the courtyard? Those voices are the pebbles that create the landslide."

"Who were they?' Meilin asked. Yelan frowned unhappily.

"I do not know and that troubles me. Meilin," Yelan suddenly stopped and placed a smooth white hand upon Meilin's thin, but strong shoulder, "promise me, you will keep yourself safe, do not do anything to anger any of the elders, keep quiet and out of sight for me please."

Meilin frown.

"But why, I'm sick of being the weakest link, I want to help." She cried.

"You did not allow me to finish, I want you to keep quiet and out of the way," she lowed her head to Meilin's ear, "I want you to watch. I know I have no right to ask you of this, it could be dangerous, as I believe it will be for all of us, but I need you be out of the way and watch things around you and if you see or hear anything interesting you will come and tell me immediately. I do you understand what I am asking of you?"

Meilin nodded, somewhat stunned. Never had any large amount responsibility been put on her shoulders, oh her father had been an out of circle elder but since she had no magical ability at all she had been more or less classed as a waste of space.

"Ok." Meilin said, sticking her chin out proudly as she had been taught to do.

Yelan closed her eyes for just a moment and sighed.

"I can not believe I am asking you to be a spy for me, but that is exactly what I need. You are the best for the job because of your training and funnily enough because of your lack of ability you will unlikely to be sensed and will be able to enter places that magical members of our family, such as myself or Syaoran."

"So my not having powers is actually a good thing now?"

Yelan smiled gently down at her.

"Your not having powers was never a bad thing, it just meant that you were destined for different things."

"Ok, well, since I'm now useful. I did hear something about Shadows, Master Jin was actually reading a scroll about them when I last saw him… come to think of it, I must have been the last person to have seen him." Yelan squeezed her shoulder gently.

"Shadows, yeah and Master Tu was muttering about them, 'Soon the Shadow will come' is what he said. I don't suppose that means anything, though." Yelan had gone very still her face dark, her eyes looking far off into the distances.

"Aunt?"

"I'm not sure if it means anything, but it is an interesting thing for Master Tu to have said. Anything else?"

As soon as they reached Yelan's house and were seated in her lounge room Meilin had told her all that she had seen and heard yesterday.

"Interesting, all very interesting, but it doesn't help us with the bigger picture as of yet. Have you told anyone else?"

"Only told Syaoran, last night, that Uncle Tu was acting weirder than normal."

"And his response?"

"He laughed but he seemed uptight, Sakura-chan has been having her prophetic dreams again."

Yelan just nodded. Meilin was never actually sure how her aunt actually felt about Syaoran's and Sakura relationship. She hadn't disagreed against but neither had she been very happy about them being a couple.

"But everything will be ok, because Syaoran's coming home soon, with Sakura and the rest. Everything will sort out with them around."

"One can only hope." Yelan mumbled softly and sipped her tea, glancing sideways at Wei who was standing by where she sat.

"Thank you, Meilin. Please be save about what you are doing, don't breath a word about this to anyone."

"I won't. But," she frowned questioningly at her aunt, "not even to Syaoran?"

Yelan glanced once again at Wei.

"Let us just keep this between ourselves for the present moment."

Meilin nodded, but continue to frown. Why couldn't she tell Syaoran that she had finally received a purpose within their Clan? Ok it wasn't exactly as respectable as it could be, spying among her own family and extended, but it was a purposes.

"I won't tell anyone, not even Syaoran." Meilin sighed. Yelan nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Haha, I added a new Character than I killed him off in the same chapter. I actually quite liked Master Jin, I was actually a bit upset that I had him killed (and in such a way, I'd hate to be burn to death), even though I threw him in just as introduction of '_the Legend Of Shadows'_ and to have him figure out something, yeah don't kill me.  
I also I sort of introduced the main villian in this. I promise things will make more sense soon, with more chapters.  
I hope you guys enjoyed this and please review.


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